


Roll to Me (Extended Version)

by Pelydryn



Series: Roll to Me (long and short versions) [1]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Arthur Pendragon Returns, Fluff, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Jealousy, M/M, Minor Injuries, Rollerskating, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-26
Updated: 2018-07-02
Packaged: 2018-11-04 14:37:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10992966
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pelydryn/pseuds/Pelydryn
Summary: Arthur had been back from the dead for five days when Merlin decided to take him rollerskating. Merlin wouldn't admit it, but his primary motivation was to see the mighty Arthur Pendragon fall on his bum. (Now with art!)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Michaelssw0rd](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Michaelssw0rd/gifts), [enkiduu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/enkiduu/gifts).



> I posted an extremely abridged version of this story once for Camelot Drabble. Here is the original version. It contains more plot. Yay, plot!
> 
> For Enki and Tee, who are the best cheerleaders. <3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Merlin hatches a plan

Arthur had only been back from the dead for five days when Merlin decided to take him rollerskating. Merlin wouldn't admit it to anyone, but he was primarily motivated by the desire to see the almighty Arthur Pendragon fall on his bum.

The first day Arthur was returned, Merlin had dragged him back to his flat in shock. According to Arthur, Merlin spent much of that day crying. It wasn't really crying… it's just that little drops of water kept oozing out of his eyelids. A totally normal reaction when you're on your daily walk and the person you've been waiting 1500 years for just decides to up and appear out of a lake without giving any advance warning.

The second day was filled with lots of conversation, which mostly went along the lines of:

“I'm sorry.”

“No, I'm sorry.”

“No, I'm sorry more.”

“Well, then, I forgive you more.”

“Absolutely not. It would be completely impossible for you to forgive me more than I forgive you.”

“Well, if you weren't such a clotpole, you'd see that you're being ridiculous.”

“How many times have I told you that you can't talk to your king that way?”

“How many times have I told you that you're a complete prat?”

And so on and so forth, until one would jump on the other and a whole lot of tomfoolery would take place. Which would last a short while, till it was back to “oh gods, I'm so sorry!” At which point they would repeat it all again.

They didn't get over the “I'm the sorriest” contest for a whole day. It ended when Arthur claimed he was the sorriest king that ever was. Merlin, for once, surprisingly agreed. “Definitely the sorriest excuse for a king I ever knew.” After that they just stuck to punching each other's arms. Which usually escalated into something more, till Merlin was a smashed pancake on the ground, Arthur sitting on him and crowing in victory.

The third day, Merlin got his act together and started introducing Arthur to the ways of the twenty-first century. Arthur took to it all like a duck to water. By the end of the fourth day, he was showing Merlin how to work things on the computer and knew more about mobile phones than Merlin did. The pompous ass always had to be the best at everything, of course. But Merlin had a plan.

(And, you know, the eternal youth thing really wasn't all it was cracked up to be. He might look young, but his brain had been around for a long time. It just didn't adapt to things as quickly as it might have done in the past. Arthur, the smug git, still had a brain in its prime. It wasn't anything to be so arrogant about. Just wait till he had lived 1500 years and see how adaptive to new technology he was.)

The fifth day was a Saturday. Merlin had been invited to his next-door neighbour's son’s birthday party, to be held at the local roller skating rink. When Merlin had first remembered this invitation, he thought that he would cancel, to stay home with Arthur. But by the time Arthur was showing him how to edit the selfies they took—because jeez, Merlin, don't you know how to get rid of that red eye? It’s not nearly as attractive on you as the gold!—Merlin was ready for a bit of comeuppance. Now Arthur was mocking him not only for his complete failure in play-fighting and the drips that kept seeping out of his eyes, but he was acting the pompous know-it-all, and it really couldn't be tolerated. So Merlin dragged him along to the birthday party.

Before they left, Merlin tried to explain the concept of rollerskating. Arthur didn't seem too impressed. “So you're telling me that people have put wheels on shoes, and all they do is go around in circles for hours? What's the point?”

“It's called having fun, Arthur.”

“How is going around in endless circles fun? Have the people in this century all gone mental?”

“You'll see.” Merlin was hoping he'd see from a spot on the floor, where he would have fallen in a spectacular crash, perhaps bruising his tailbone in the process. Then Merlin could mock him about his own sore little bottom for a change.

It was the first time Arthur had gone out of the flat for any significant excursion. He had been a quick study of all things modern, reading about them all on the internet. But Merlin was pleased to see a glint of apprehension when they boarded the bus. It took off before they had found their seats, and Arthur, who was not expecting it, took a small tumble into a young woman reading a book. Merlin wanted to gloat, but the woman was staring at Arthur with a look bordering on adoration, fluttering her eyelashes, and it was just sickening to look at. When Merlin knocked into people, they always greeted him with a few choice words and a hand gesture or two. It really wasn't fair! He turned away in disgust.

They reached the Roll-Arena quickly. Arthur was still chatting with the young woman, and Merlin yanked him away without apology. The woman looked offended, but whatever. She could go flirt with some other newly-risen king. This one was Merlin's.

The outside of the Roll-Arena was dull concrete, with only an old, out-dated sign advertising what it was. The building had stood in that location for decades. It wasn't as popular as it had been in its prime, but it was still a fun place for the families in the neighbourhood to visit. Quite a few adults came to skate, too. They tended to be more skilled, skating backwards or doing tricks. Merlin had come skating here for decades. Over the centuries he had needed to find some ways to entertain himself, and he had found skating remarkably fun. It was quite surprising, considering his natural clumsiness, but he had kept at it and proven to be half-way decent. And he had only used his magic to cheat and help his balance for the first decade or so. For the most part. Though it occasionally came in handy…. But not today! Today he was determined to humiliate Arthur Pendragon the old-fashioned way.

They pulled open the rusted metal door and went into a tiny entryway, where there was a window with an employee to collect their payment. There was barely space for the two of them. The light was dim and a deep indistinct pounding noise could be heard. Merlin knew it to be music, but Arthur wasn't familiar with the sound of heavy bass. Merlin could see him tensing slightly, and if Merlin took that as an invitation to step even closer into his space, who else would have done any differently?

When they finally walked through a second set of metal doors and entered the arena proper, Arthur stuttered to a halt, clearly astonished. The music was blaring through the room, almost deafening. There were colored lights flashing all over the arena, a light show of amazing intensity. There were people everywhere, many of them zooming around the floor with an uncanny speed and smoothness.

Merlin could tell he had finally managed to overwhelm Arthur. His mouth was hanging open and his eyes were bugging out. A little. Okay, only the tiniest bit, but Merlin saw it. He could tell. Arthur was speechless. It was delightful.

He slid up to Arthur's side. “You'd best close your mouth before you swallow a bug.”

Arthur jerked out of his daze. “Shut up, _Mer_ lin.”

“It's almost like you've never gone rollerskating before.” Merlin sounded like a snotty child, but he didn't really care.

Arthur snorted. “ _Some_ of us have been dead 1500 years. It's not like I had the means to indulge in every trivial fad or frivolous pastime that you've managed to waste time with. And why on earth are those lights flickering so much? Are they trying to blind us? Will I still be able to hear anything after we leave?”

Merlin shook his head. “And here I thought I was the old man.…” He tugged at Arthur's arm. “Come on, you killjoy. Let's go say hello to the birthday boy.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Arthur is distressingly talented

They walked over to a long table that had been set up in a corner. Lots of people stood around it, mostly adults chatting with each other. Merlin supposed most of the kids were out in the arena skating.

A woman with long brown hair and a frazzled look on her face came up to give Merlin a hug. “Oh, Merlin! I'm so glad you've made it. Timmy’s been bugging me non-stop, wondering when you'd get here. He's hoping you'll teach him some tricks.”

Merlin pulled back and smiled. “It's good to see you, Janet. Of course I'll be happy to show Timothy some tricks.”

Merlin stepped back and pulled Arthur up next to him. “Janet, this is my friend Arthur. He's just arrived in town and will be staying with me awhile. Arthur, this is Janet, Timothy's mum and maker of the best pancakes in town.”

Janet shook hands with Arthur, then batted Merlin on the head. “Flattery isn't going to get you more of those pancakes, Merlin. Though I suppose I could be persuaded to prove my skills to your young gentleman here.”

Merlin could feel the heat rising to his cheeks and hoped that Arthur wouldn't notice in the dim light. Even if he did, he could just blame it on one of the red lights shooting around the arena, right?

“I'm not sure I'd call Arthur my gentleman,” he said, though inside his head a voice was saying, _yes, please, mine_.

Janet swatted at him again. With a mischievous smile, she said, “Are you calling him a cad?”

Arthur couldn't tolerate those insinuations. “I'll have you know, _Mer_ lin, I am always a perfect gentleman.”

He proceeded to demonstrate by bowing to Janet. “It is a pleasure to meet such an esteemed lady. Thank you for doing us the honor of inviting us to your party. If we may be of assistance in any way, please let us know.” Then he flashed his most charming grin at her.

Janet looked slightly besotted and giggled like a schoolgirl with a new crush. Oh, gods, not another one. If only Merlin could point out to them that Arthur had been dead _just_ _last_ _week_ , maybe people would be less eager to fall all over him. As it was, Arthur's ego would continue to grow unchecked unless Merlin did something about it. Merlin didn't really fancy trying to fight off hordes of women at every turn.

Merlin grabbed Arthur's arm. “We've still got to go get our skates, but we'll see you shortly.” He tugged at Arthur a bit more forcefully than he had intended.

“Merlin, how many times do I have to tell you, you can't drag your king around like a dog with a chew toy?”

Merlin paused and looked at him. “You've never said that before.”

“Only because dogs in Camelot didn't need chew toys. They were fierce hunting creatures, not children to be coddled.”

“And yet, how many times did I see you sneaking in extra meat to your favorites?”

“Shut up, Merlin.”

“Of course, sire.”

Merlin headed to the skate-rental counter, pulled off his shoes to give to the employee, and asked for a pair of inline skates. Arthur did the same, but Merlin tried to overrule him, asking for traditional roller skates instead, saying they'd be easier for a beginner. But Arthur wouldn't tolerate that: if Merlin was coordinated enough to use inline skates, then he was too, thank you very much.

When they got their skates, Arthur looked at them dubiously. “What kind of contraptions are these? This is supposed to be fun?”

Merlin merely patted him on the shoulder and said, “You'll see.”

They went over to a bench to put on the skates. Arthur looked briefly overwhelmed by all the buckles and laces, but figured it out easily enough.

Then came the moment Merlin had been waiting for: the time when Arthur would stand up and fall right over. Only—he didn't. He stood up as smoothly as if he were wearing his regular boots.

But that's okay. Arthur hadn't actually moved anywhere yet. There was still plenty of time for him to make a spectacle of himself!

Merlin stood up too and gestured out to the floor. “Shall we, my lord?” he asked, trying his best to conceal the anticipation bubbling around inside him. No need to make Arthur suspicious.

Merlin wanted to zoom off, but worried he'd miss the moment he'd been waiting for. So he gently nudged Arthur in the direction of the opening that led to the skating floor. There was a low wall that separated the lobby from the rink proper, with a couple of openings to let skaters in and out. Merlin figured the wall was there more as a prop for beginning skaters to hold on to than as a true barrier.

Arthur squinted his eyes at him. “Since when do you want me to lead the way, Merlin? All those years and you never once followed behind me the way you should have.”

Merlin attempted to look nonchalant. “Just trying to be polite.”

“Now I know there is something strange going on.”

“Maybe I just want to provide a good example for the kids?”

Arthur shook his head, but then started moving towards the entrance. He slid his feet along the floor without lifting them off the ground. It was slow, but there was no spectacular crash. That was okay. Merlin could be patient.

Merlin pushed off in one elegant glide and slid past Arthur with a faux-encouraging smile. “You know you're supposed to actually lift your feet up off the ground, right? You're skating like a three-year old.”

Arthur glared at him. “Just give me a second to get used to it.”

“Oh? Do I hear that you're not immediately the master of something?”

“You're ridiculous, Merlin. Now shut up and let me practice!”

Arthur had made it out to the rink and paused by the wall, examining the other skaters. He would probably figure out the correct technique in a matter of minutes, just by watching. Merlin couldn't have that. He skated out onto the floor, did a quick little spin to stop, and called out, “You're not afraid, are you, Arthur?” Then he zoomed away, circling around the floor counter-clockwise with the other skaters.

Merlin was fast. He completed a loop of the arena in less than half a minute. Arthur was still standing where Merlin had left him. Merlin spun around a bit, then skated backwards till he stood next to Arthur.

A little girl in a purple shirt and pigtails sailed past them.

“You're going to let a five-year old child beat you round the floor?”

Merlin could see the look of determination in Arthur's face. Without warning, he sprang off the wall, lifting his feet between each glide and pushing off again quickly. There was no wobble or hesitation. Of course not. Why would there be? This was Arthur Pendragon, taught to kill since birth. Why would a little thing like roller skates slow him down?

Merlin stood and watched, shaking his head in despair. Arthur was going to be even more insufferable than he usually was. Merlin wasn't sure it could be tolerated.

He pushed off and began to skate around the rink, falling in stride with Arthur, who had a look of pleasant surprise on his face.

“This isn't nearly as ridiculous as I thought it would be. Well, it is ridiculous, but it's also kind of fun. It does seem to lend itself to high rates of speed.”

Merlin was busy brooding, not paying too much attention. He saw Timothy and waved to him, but the birthday boy was surrounded by friends wearing glow stick jewellery and silly fake teeth. Merlin would go say hello to him a bit later.

Meanwhile, Arthur was still talking. “I wonder if something like these skates would have been useful in Camelot. The technology doesn't seem too advanced for our time. It looks like you just take some tiny wheels and stick them on a boot. It probably wouldn't have been very practical for battle, since there’d be a lot of debris in the way. Plus the stability isn't that great. But maybe the messengers inside the castle.…”

Merlin was only half paying attention. One part of his brain was debating the pros and cons of using a tiny bit of magic to trip Arthur up. The other half of his brain managed to say, “Camelot had a lot of stairs, sire. Would have made things difficult.”

“But maybe for bringing food and dishes in and out of the kitchen…. Might have sped things up a bit. Get the servants in and out of sight more quickly.…”

Merlin turned to look at him. “Is there something wrong with servants, Arthur? Is seeing them somehow an affliction?”

“No, no, of course not. It's just sometimes they can be loud and disruptive, making it hard for others to hear me when I speak.” He shot Merlin a mocking grin. “Some of them never did learn how to be quiet.”

Merlin was quickly deciding it'd be worth the repercussions of the arrogant prat finding out he'd used magic on him, just to see the pride go before the fall.

“No one really needed to be subjected to your bloviation, Arthur. It's not like they hadn't heard it all before.”

Merlin really should have been paying more attention. He was just so irritated with the prat that he stopped looking where he was going. And it certainly wasn't his fault that Arthur tripped right over him when Merlin suddenly veered too close. But the resulting crash was spectacular. The two of them slammed into the floor, Arthur falling on top of Merlin, and slid across the floor. Other skaters barely avoided tripping over them. They only stopped when they slammed into a carpeted wall.

Merlin groaned. “Ow!” Arthur was still lying on top of him. He pushed at him ineffectively. “Get off me, you heavy lout!”

Arthur certainly took his time moving. “Are you calling me fat, Merlin?”

“Well, right now I wouldn't be sad if you'd had a few fewer donuts at breakfast this morning.”

“And who was the one who woke up in a frenzy to visit the donut shop down the street?”

“Well, maybe you didn't need so many of them!”

Arthur was taking a ridiculously long time to get off of him. Skaters kept sailing by gaping at the two of them. It wasn't until Timothy-the-birthday-boy stopped and asked, “You need some help there, Mr Merlin?” that Arthur made much of an effort to get off. It's almost as if he liked making a spectacle of himself. Either that, or he liked lying all over Merlin. Merlin shook his head clear of that thought real fast.

“Are you guys okay?” Timothy asked.

Merlin smiled at him. “Yeah, Tim, we're fine. Arthur here is just learning how to skate and doesn't know how to avoid collisions very well yet.”

Arthur grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and gave a painful squeeze. “I was not the one who cut right in front of the other with absolutely no warning, _Mer_ lin.”

“You should be prepared for any eventuality, _Ar_ thur.”

“Like the eventuality that even death can't change the fact that I'll always be saddled with a clumsy idiot of a manservant?”

“Exactly! You should have known what to expect!”

Timothy looked at the two of them, perplexed. Merlin took pity on him. “Timothy, this is my friend Arthur. He's a bit of a turniphead, but he's got a good heart underneath it all. Arthur, this is Timothy, the birthday boy. Happy birthday!”

Timothy smiled, happy to receive the birthday wishes. “Thanks! You gonna show me how to skate backwards now?”

“Soon. I just need to help Arthur here—”

But Arthur was having none of that.

“Yes, Merlin, why don't you teach us how to skate backwards?”

Find. Let the lessons commence. Merlin showed Timothy how to move his feet so that he would skate backwards. While Timothy struggled a bit, Arthur picked up on it right away and was quite smug about it. Merlin wondered idly if it was too late to send Arthur back to Avalon. The Sidhe probably had a no exchanges, no returns policy. Damn them.

In a short time, Arthur was so proficient at skating backwards that he was giving tips to Timothy. Merlin had the chance to stand back by the wall and observe the two of them. Arthur was in his element, a happy boyish look on his face. He'd make a good teacher, if the whole save-the-world thing didn't pan out.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Merlin is a giant idiot

At the next break between songs, there was an announcement for Timothy's guests to come over to the party table for cake. Timothy let out a delighted squeal and skated off as fast as he could. Arthur and Merlin followed at a more sedate pace. Merlin was in a surprisingly good mood, despite having had his plans foiled.

“I hate to admit it, but you're obnoxiously good at this whole skating thing.”

“Why, _Mer_ lin, are you actually complimenting me?”

“I know, I know. I really shouldn't. I'm not sure how your head is going to fit in the bus for the trip home if it gets any bigger.”

Arthur pushed at Merlin in retaliation, but Merlin just laughed and sped away, Arthur on his heels. 

They arrived at the table to find a number of children shoving each other in their attempt to get closer to the cake. The adults stood back, chatting and not paying much attention to the chaos. After a few moments of this, Janet shooed the children away so she could light the birthday candles. As she did, Merlin noticed the cake had been beautifully decorated to look like a dragon. No wonder the kids had been climbing over each other to get a better view.

“Is that… the Great Dragon?” Arthur asked in a strained voice. 

Merlin felt some of his happiness evaporate. Even though the two of them had talked about why Merlin had done what he had, the subject of the dragon was always going to be painful. “Not specifically. But I may have drawn pictures of Kilgharrah for Timmy to look at, and now he's in love with the idea of dragons. I guess his mum decorated the cake to look like one of my drawings.”

“If that kid had ever met a real dragon, he wouldn't be so eager to commemorate him in a cake.”

Merlin sighed and leaned closer to Arthur. “You know that he was horribly wronged and uncontrollably angry, yeah? And that he helped me more than I can say?”

Arthur nudged him with his shoulder. “I know. But you can't expect me to want to see him celebrated, either.”

It was understandable. Merlin couldn't fault him. He snorted, suddenly wondering what Kilgharrah would think if he knew he had been recreated in cake. He'd probably say it wasn't dignified. 

When Janet lit the candles with a lighter, Arthur got an adorably confused look on his face.

“Merlin, why are there candles burning on a cake?”

“It's a birthday tradition, one candle for each year. Some say the Germans invented it, a couple hundred years ago. Who knows?” Truthfully, Merlin wished he had started the custom; lighting food on fire seemed like a marvelous way to pass the time. “But it's fun! The number of candles that you can't blow out shows the supposed number of girlfriends or boyfriends you have.”

“That's ridiculous. And even if that were the case, why wouldn't you just leave some candles lit on purpose?”

“You would, wouldn't you, Arthur? And how many candles would you need to leave burning in order to assuage your ginormous ego? How many girlfriends would be enough?”

But Arthur batted at him, saying, “Enough about me. What about you? Would it even be possible to make a cake big enough to hold all the candles needed for your birthday? Seems like a terrible fire hazard to me. And what about your lung capacity? How many girlfriends would you end up with, Merlin?”

“Or boyfriends.” Merlin added this last bit in quietly. 

“Or boyfriends. . . Wait, really?”

Merlin smiled. “Sure. Why not?”

Arthur opened his mouth, fully ready to elaborate on why or why not, but the crowd interrupted with a loud and off-key rendition of the birthday song. Arthur looked like the only thing keeping him from covering his ears was his sense of decorum.

When everyone had finished, a last few children wailed something about monkeys. Merlin joined in, looking pointedly at Arthur. “You look like a mo-o-o-o-o-n-key, and you smell like one too!” He pinched his nose closed with his fingers and waved his other hand in the air to disperse the supposed smell. 

Arthur grabbed at the hand Merlin was waving and manhandled it behind Merlin's back. It was reminiscent of their first meeting, so very many years ago. But Merlin wasn't intimidated then, and there was no way he could ever be intimidated now. 

Arthur pulled at him till his back was plastered up against Arthur's front, with only the arm in the way. Arthur growled softly in his ear, causing goosebumps to form on his limbs. “What is this nonsense?” 

Merlin gulped and tried to keep his body from betraying him with inconvenient reactions. “Oh nothing much. Just something about how you live in a zoo.” It was so tempting to lean back and rest on Arthur, but that would just make the situation worse. Instead, Arthur huffed and pushed him away. 

“If I live in a zoo, it's only because you're the one running it,” he teased. 

At last the singing, if it could be called that, died out completely, and the not-quite-Kilgharrah cake was sliced into pieces. Merlin imagined Arthur was wishing he'd managed to slice the real dragon into pieces the same way.

The paper plates used for serving the cake were decorated with a picture of a dragon soaring over a castle. If Arthur stabbed particularly vehemently at the dragon with his fork, Merlin wasn't going to point it out. 

A short time after the cake was finished, the MC announced that the next song was only for couples. Janet gave Merlin a look that clearly said, “What are you waiting for?” While Merlin preferred that to her flirtations with Arthur, he wasn't sure he was brave enough to act on her suggestion.

But apparently he didn't need to worry about it, because the prat held out his arm to Merlin, lifted his eyebrows in a playful way, and said, “Shall we?” Merlin smiled tentatively at him, then reached out, and away they went. There was a soppy love song playing, and the lights in the arena had gone quite dark, with some red hearts flashing along the walls and criss-crossing the ceiling. 

Arthur grabbed his hand as they looped around the oval. Merlin was on high alert for shenanigans, figuring Arthur would try to get some revenge for the spectacular crash Merlin had caused earlier. But as the song went on, nothing much happened. They skated side by side, holding hands, not saying much at all. It was surprisingly peaceful.

“This going in circles lark isn't as stupid as I thought it'd be,” Arthur said. 

“I'm glad if gets your royal stamp of approval.”

“Well, I'm not sure I'd go that far….”

“Oh, come on, you know you love it.”

Arthur mumbled something under his breath. 

“What was that? I couldn't hear you over the music.”

Arthur spoke up. “Come with me, and I'll tell you.” He headed off into a corner of the rink where there was space for a tiny arcade. All it had was an air hockey table, electronic basketball hoop, and a Skee ball game. There was also a dark corner that was mostly hidden from the rest of the room.

“What's so important that you had to drag me all the way over here?”

It was hard to tell in the near-dark, but it almost seemed like Arthur was blushing.

“I just wanted to say… you're right. I do love skating. But—not as much as I love you.”

Merlin wasn't sure he'd heard correctly. The music had moved on to something fast and loud. He stared at Arthur, confused. He must have taken too long to process, because Arthur leaned forward and kissed him. Arthur's lips were dry and warm and tasted like vanilla icing. This did nothing to help Merlin's brain understand. It had the opposite effect, actually: there was no more thinking at all. Arthur pulled back, a look of uncertainty on his face, clear even in the murk. 

His brain jumped into high-gear. _Arthur was kissing him_. Arthur was kissing him, but stopped because Merlin _wasn't responding_. Arthur was right: Merlin really could be an idiot sometimes. 

He reached out with his hands and grabbed Arthur on each side of his face. Merlin looked carefully into his eyes one more time, just to make sure. All he saw there was love and hope… so Merlin pulled their lips back together. He was in a rush, afraid he had dallied too long. But Arthur returned the kiss eagerly. “Took you long enough,” he whispered when they came up for air. 

The only response to that was to spend several songs hiding in the dark corner, kissing the breath out of each other. It took on the characteristics of one of their wrestling matches, only with tongues instead of limbs, each fighting for dominance. They only stopped when a child’s voice called out, “Merlin! There you are! You still need to teach me how to do figure eights!”

Merlin pulled back from Arthur as if he'd been burned. But Timothy just laughed and said, “Mum already said you were over here in the corner snogging Mr Arthur. It's not like I've never seen it before.”

Merlin grinned. “Well, in that case….” He turned to Arthur and went right back to kissing him with gusto. But this time Arthur pushed away. 

“Come on, you idiot, we need to go teach the birthday boy some new tricks.” 

“We?” Merlin quirked an eyebrow at him. “Since when do _you_ know how to do a figure eight?”

“If you can do it, it can't be that hard!”

 _We’ll see about that_ , Merlin thought. 

But of course it wasn't hard for Arthur. Why would it be? Arthur quickly took over teaching Timothy and a few other children. Merlin’s thoughts drifted to what Arthur had said— _Not as much as I love you_ —and the kisses! Merlin coasted around the rink in a fog of dazed happiness, paying little attention to his surroundings. It wasn't until the last second that he saw the tiny boy that had fallen right in front of him. Merlin jumped and successfully avoided the child, but when his skates hit the floor again, he overcorrected and went flying. He held out his arms to cushion the fall, not remembering that this wasn't the smartest thing to do until it was too late. 

There was an audible crack as his right hand hit the floor. His head smashed to the floor right after. A sharp pain burned across his wrist and forearm. It took his breath away. He sat up, feeling light-headed. A look at the crooked angle of his lower arm told him all he needed to know. Definitely broken. Arthur was never going to let him live this down.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Merlin really is the biggest of idiots and Arthur loves him anyway

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it only took forever to finish this. But thank you Elv for the Finish That Fic Fest! I was inspired.

Merlin was slow to get up, catching the attention of the skating attendant, who stopped to check on him. This in turn attracted the attention of other skaters, and faster than Arthur could execute a perfect figure eight, everyone on the rink knew that someone had been injured. 

“That looks bad,” the attendant said. “I'll call for an ambulance.”

Well, damn. How was he supposed to heal his arm with magic now? Everyone would notice, and he didn't fancy ending up on the front pages of the gossip magazines as a miracle freak. And then some religious nutjob might try to use him to start a cult, and people would come from far and wide to witness the the abomination that was Merlin and he wouldn't be able to leave his flat ever again and then he'd have to send Arthur out into the world by himself to buy groceries and he would mess it up and then everyone would realise that Arthur wasn't a person, he was a _long-dead mystical king come back to life_ —and then they would both be hounded for the rest of their lives. They'd have to move to Brazil where no one would know about them, but damn, that wouldn't work because of this whole new-fangled internet thing… And honestly, why should anyone care about Merlin's magic, anyway? Technology was the real magic. Merlin certainly didn't know a spell that would let the entire country of Brazil know that two magical freaks were going to try and hide out there in a matter of minutes… But the internet would blab on them and they'd have to travel up the Amazon into the darkest corners of the jungle… but then how would Arthur save the world? And Arthur would fail at his mission because he and Merlin were hiding in a mud hut and trying to stay away from the army ants and piranhas and poisonous spiders and it was all Merlin's fault because he had just for once wanted to show the prat up and he thought for sure roller skating would be the way and now—

“Breathe, Idiot, breathe.” 

Warm, strong arms wrapped around his torso and pulled him up to sitting while taking great care to keep the broken bone as still as possible. Arthur. Arthur was here. He could deal with this. 

Merlin realised he was breathing much too quickly. His vision was turning grey around the edges. He could feel Arthur's warmth sitting behind him; Arthur leaned close and whispered to Merlin in soothing tones. But the words were typical Arthur. 

“Calm down, you idiot, breathe like me, that's it, in, out, I swear to God, Merlin, you are the klutziest creature to have ever walked the Earth, slow down, not too fast, in, out… You're going to make me do all the work, aren't you? What a fine servant you are… in, out, in, out… Can you imagine? A king taking out the garbage? Scrubbing filthy dishes? Honestly, the worst servant ever… in, out, yes, like that, that's good… Do you think you hit your head? I thought maybe I could get them to let us leave without calling an ambulance, but that bit about Brazil convinced them they needed to call the paramedics no matter what I said…”

That “bit about Brazil”? Merlin had said that out loud? God, he _was_ an idiot. Maybe a concussed idiot, but still, the biggest idiot to ever idi— Wait, could he even say that? Could he verb that noun? Were the inanities of this modern age getting to him?

“Merlin!”

Oh, yeah, Arthur. Arthur was here. He hadn't been, for so very many years… He'd been gone, gone, gone, far away from Merlin, leaving him alone, all alone, so very alone. And hadn't that been sad? So very sad. He'd missed Arthur so damn much… it hurt so much he couldn't breathe—

“Yes, yes, it was all very sad, but _now is not the time._ ”

Oh, right. Better not to say that all out loud in front of the entire world. 

“It's not the entire world, Merlin, just some kids and their parents.”

But that wasn't right, because the internet—

“For once in your life, could you just do what I ask? Shut up, Merlin!”

And somehow he managed. His breathing evened out, and he could see more clearly. Someone had removed his skates and put on his normal shoes. Two paramedics arrived and splinted his arm and examined him for signs of head injury.

“Mr Emrys really needs to spend the night in hospital for observation. He's probably fine, probably just dazed by the fall, but it's better to be safe. And then they'll be able to examine the arm and see if it needs surgery…”

Merlin vaguely realised that they were talking _about_ him, not _to_ him, and he didn't mind at all. Let Arthur be in charge. Wasn't that what he was good at anyway?

***

In the end, Merlin remembered very little of his time in hospital. Between the drugs and the head injury, it was a big muddle. But Arthur sure loved to tease him about it. 

“You fell asleep with food in your mouth! I never thought I'd see the day that you didn't inhale your food like a starving urchin. But there it was, just sitting there, saying, ‘Eat me, Merlin, eat me quick before I turn into slimy drool that Arthur will have to clean up, Merlin!’”

The sad part was that it was true. Merlin’s time in hospital hadn't been glamorous and Arthur had seen him at his worst. He couldn't think of any way to respond to Arthur's gibes without feeling sorry for himself. 

As soon as he returned home, Merlin used magic to heal his broken arm. He would still have to wear a splint and sling whenever there was a chance Timmy or Janet might see him. But it was much preferred to letting it heal naturally. 

That night, instead of going into his room by himself and shutting the door, Merlin shyly grabbed onto Arthur's hand and pulled him to bed with him. Once under the covers with the lights out, he couldn't help but cling. And Arthur wrapped him up with cuddles and love. 

“Thank you for taking care of me,” Merlin whispered into the darkness. “I'm sorry—”

“Don't be an idiot, Merlin. Of course I’ll take care of you. It's the least I can do after all those years that you took care of me. And I realise now just how hard that was, how much you did for me…”

Merlin snuggled closer to Arthur, as close as he could get without ending up inside of him. Not that that was a bad idea, per se, but for now he just needed to feel Arthur's presence, hold on to the physical body that was finally here beside him. 

“…and I'm so very sorry that I had to leave you alone for so long. I know it was terrible—”

“Not always.” And it hadn't been. Merlin hadn't let it. He had gone out into the world, learning new ways, meeting new people. He hadn't sat around moping like some sort of scorned lover. But the ache for his lost king, the other half of his coin… it had been ever present, grating at him like a thorn inside his shoe. 

“You're here now,” Merlin added. “That's all that matters.” 

Arthur pressed a kiss to his forehead. “I'm here now. And whatever is to come, we'll face it together.”

“Together.” Merlin tilted his face so he could kiss Arthur on the lips. They had kissed a few times since the skating rink fiasco, but this was different: at last they were in each other's arms, pressed so closely against each other they might have been that proverbial coin, ready to face the future, together. 

At last Merlin pulled away. “I’m still going to find something I can do better than you.” Arthur had teased him endlessly about Merlin's concussion-induced confession at the skating rink, that he had been trying to show Arthur up and instead had ended up in hospital. Merlin was never going to live that down. 

Arthur smiled at him; even in the darkness Merlin could see his beloved, crooked teeth. “I know one thing you're much better than me at.”

Merlin was feeling warm and cuddly and mushy with love, so didn't see the setup till it was too late. 

“Oh yeah? What's that?”

“Being an idiot.” And then Arthur was kissing him like he might never have the chance again, and Merlin never did get revenge for that comment. 

And if Arthur was better than Merlin in bed, Merlin certainly wasn't going to be the one complaining. Definitely not.


	5. Art!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Art times two!
> 
> (Lucky me)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Brolinskeep](http://brolinskeep.tumblr.com) made this [ awesome picture](http://pelydryn77.tumblr.com/post/175274986771/brolinskeep-for-roll-to-me-by-pelydryn) to go with the story and said I could post it here. (It was a prize for writing the most words in a WIP fest... Sadly, I still have just as many WIPs as before. But this story got finished in the fest, so there is that, at least.) Thank you so much, rou!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And secondly, this story was remixed as part of Camelot Remix. The remix was an adorable comic with the cutest cats, showing what Arthur really thought about the whole roller skating thing. You can see it [here](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/CamelotRemix2018/works/14804522).

**Author's Note:**

> I adore comments. <3
> 
> Thanks for reading!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Roll on, Arthur!](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14804522) by [Eisbaerfussel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eisbaerfussel/pseuds/Eisbaerfussel)




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